Archive for 2012

WHY?

By Steve | Published Saturday, December 15, 2012


My thoughts and emotions have run the gamut in the last 48 hours. God's will or not, mad, angry, buy a gun, don’t buy a gun, oppose owning guns, mourn, don’t mourn, cry, forget, remember, yell at the media hype, etc... Tonight after seeing several Facebook conversations and posts I decided to dig up a message to my students I presented a few years ago.

Either God is not all that good, or else He is not powerful enough to do anything about it. This question presents a very real problem to many of us. I’m not sure what happened a few years ago to spur this on... But apparently we were dealing with emotions that everyone has been dealing with the last few days. It was and is my best answer to what happened and was inspired by author Phillip Yancey, one of my favorite authors. If you want more help on this subject please pick up one of his books on suffering and death. If anything let this be a conversation jump off point, disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts...  In my High School years I had a 20 gallon aquarium. I didn't have many expensive or exotic fish I only had some Gold Fish and ton of guppies! Some were sporting attitudes, they thought they were better than all the other fish. Some of the fish had spots, some stripes, some were black, some wear orange, some grey, some shy, some friendly and some just down right demented.  But they were special to me no matter what they looked like, no matter how they acted.  It made me wonder if God ever felt like that towards us? 

One day I noticed that one of my big bad fish had gotten sick, and the others started to turn on it, tormenting it without mercy, they brutally attacked his eye! It made me so mad when they did that, I just wanted to stick my hand in the tank and thump them on the head and say, “Hey quit that! Can’t you-all just get along?” Made me wonder if God ever felt like doing that?  I remember spending much of my time fighting off bacteria and fungi that invaded the tank. I had this little chemical lab or at least one that looked like it on my night stand. I would use it to test the waters acidity, or bacteria, or nitrite levels or make sure the fish were getting enough oxygen. It was times like this I was glad I was not a fish. I mean could you imagine floating around a tank with no privacy? A long turd stuck to your butt that took hours to release. Because of that stuff, I would constantly clean out the filter and clean out the dung that had settled at the bottom of the tank, so that my little friends would have a clean place to live. I used to tell my friend that it was cool to have a tank but it was a pain in the butt to take care of because all the fish ever did was eat, sleep and die. It made me sad when a fish would die but I guess that’s part of life. I wonder if God ever felt like that? I wonder if He gets sad when we die? Whenever I had to treat an infection I had to agonize over what to do. Ideally I should move the infected fish to a quarantine tank in order to keep the others from pestering it and to protect the other fish from getting it. But the mere chasing of the infected fish would cause more damage than the infection. Stress resulting from the treatment itself may actually cause death.

I wonder if God ever wanted to intervene in our lives but did not because it would have caused more damage? 

I would often long to communicate to those small-brained water dwellers. Out of ignorance they saw me as a constant threat. I could not convince them of my true concern. I was too large for them, my actions to incomprehensible. My acts of mercy they saw as cruelty;  my attempts at healing they viewed as destruction. To change how they saw me I would have had to become like them. 

 I’m sure glad that’s what God did.

Two thousand years ago he came down from the heavens and pitched his tent among us. The almighty God wrapped himself in flesh and blood and dwelt among us, felt our pain, suffering and showed us the ways of eternal life. 

 That aquarium taught me a deep, yet small appreciation for what is involved in taking care of the universe. To my fish I was God, and one who did not hesitate to intervene, the one who kept everything in harmony. No food entered the tank unless I put it there, they would have never lived more than a day if I did not keep the pump operating. I learned that God is not unfair and He has a big job to do. I learned that suffering is not caused by God it’s caused by the evil in us. God does try to help us, sometimes we just don’t notice. 

Yet as much as that helped me understand, Why? I could not understand if I wanted to... Because I'm just a fish sometimes cowering in the corner, wondering... Why?

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College Football Madness

By Steve | Published Monday, November 19, 2012

My wife says that all my Facebook posts are about sports, so I thought I'd just go ahead and go all in and create a post here about football.

It was a strange weekend that Notre Dame fans LOVED! Why not, they deserve it. Honestly they had a high probability of getting shafted anyway by the beloved BCS system. I can't wait until the playoff system takes place, although at that point we will be arguing over what 5th and the 6th ranked team got the shaft. But it could not be any worse than what we have right now... Right?

I was really hoping for an Oregon vs. ND national championship but all the stars would have to align just right and a few of the scenarios would have to play out below and Oregon wins. I'm secretly hoping for no SEC team to be in it.

So I'm going to go off the deep end here... What would happen if, over the next two weeks, the following happened? Notre Dame loses to USC, Bama beats Auburn and loses to Goergia in the SEC championship, but Georgia loses to the rambling Wreck from Georgia the week before? What if Florida State beats Florida, Oregon beats Oregon State, Kansas State loses to my Horns, LSU loses to Arkansas, Stanford to loses to Cal and A&M beats Mizzou! WOW, now that would be a mess! Why would I wish this because then it would be possible for A&M to play Oregon for the national championship. I know... it's a pipe dream, but at least I can dream.

So who do I really think will play for the national championship? Notre Dame and Georgia

What do you think?

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A Veteran's Story

By Steve | Published Sunday, November 11, 2012

As I do every year... In honor of Veterans, my brothers, uncles, father in law, friends and Ole Sarge who served... I just wanted to say... THANKS!!


I was 5 when my Dad came back from Vietnam and I don't remember anything about that. Looking back, what I do remember is my Dad was a hard and tough sergeant in the US Army and discipline was hard and swift, as my brothers will agree. As I grew older I realized there was something different about dad, my brothers will attest that he returned from Vietnam a different man. We all noticed that he would get upset at war movies, like Full Metal Jacket, yet he did not shed a tear, he choked them back. Almost as if he was wrestling with those feelings, his face would twist and turn and lips would turn sideways and every so often he'd let out a grunt because the pressure became to much. Today, as my brothers and I think back it was almost comical to think about, yet as it was happening, it was one of the most painful things to watch!



If you wanted to see my dad real angry all you had to do was say something bad about the military. My brother Robert recalled a moment when our brother Mike made a smart ass remark about Vietnam: "Let me tell you it wasn't pretty. I had to hold my Dad back and my Mom had to get my brother out of the house. I'm still pissed at my brother because I took the brunt of what was supposed to go to him, but that's another story." As my brothers and I have looked back and compared stories our Dad was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

A few years ago, before dad passed away, I wrote an article for my churches newsletter entitled, "Bouncing Betties," which were land mines that were used in Vietnam. The story was basically about a man who sacrificed himself for a friend. Little did I know that I would receive the following email from my dad. Apparently it conjured up all the feelings that dad had stuffed down inside of himself and probably only on of the many violent and insane things he went through.

When my dad would visit DC we would visit the Vietnam Memorial and dad would spend, what seemed like, hours combing the names on the wall. One day he found a name and took the pieces of paper that they have available and ran the lead back and forth across the paper until the name appeared on it. It was the first time I can recollect my dad crying it seemed like forever, but he took the sheet folded it up and put it in his pocket. Till this day... I don’t know who it was that dad had found, I can only hope it was the young marine in the following story.

My father signed up for the Army in 1954 as a 24 year old combat Engineer/ Demolition Specialist. After a tour in Germany, he was talked into becoming the company clerk, like Radar O’Reilly on the hit TV show M.A.S.H. Since he was one of the few that could type he moved up the noncommissioned officer ranks quickly. As promotions go in the military so do the assignments and on Christmas Eve 1971, he reported for duty at Travis AFB in California where he would soon be shipped to Vietnam. He said he was not worried because he would be working at the assistance advisory headquarters in Saigon. The turnover of the country was happening at that time and US combat troops were leaving Vietnam and being replaced by South Vietnamese Units. He was “assured” he would not get an assignment in the war zone! Upon arriving, he was assigned frontline advisory duty, but still was not real worried because most advisory teams had an administrative supervisor… right? So much for supposing! We’ll leave the rest of this story in his words...

When I asked the question to the personnel officer and he said "No Sarge you are assigned in your Combat Engineer secondary MOS" Which all top NCO's are required to have a combat secondary skill. This still didn't seem to bad since I knew all advisors previously had to learn to speak Vietnamese before being assigned to a team.

My first clue that I was in trouble was when we went by a 2 1/2 ton truck to An Loc the next day and found that the supposedly 30 or so man advisory team consisted of an Airborne Ranger Captain, Airborne Ranger Sgt. Major (that had been in Vietnam four times), myself and three Marine Corps Lance Corporals, 3 Army Sp4's and a private. I was quite in shock, so to speak until the Sgt. Major put me at ease by asking me if I still could set off a C-4 demolition charge, which I replied, “You never forget that.” He said that all the other squad tactics will come back to me in a hurry. The Captain put me in charge of the quartermaster second lieutenant and the private to teach them how to do daily reports at the home base, which I might add they became pretty proficient at.

We were detailed to advise a South Vietnamese Infantry Company, and as I recall they had four platoons. The Captain went with his Vietnamese counterpart and the first platoon; the Sgt. Major with the 2nd platoon; and myself and the three marines plus the two Army E-4s were generally in the the third platoon (right in the middle) of the platoon. The Sgt. Major called us the "sucker" platoon, since we would have normally been out in the open by ourselves to draw fire from the enemy and the three others were about 100 yards away on each side of us. As soon as we were attacked, normally by a very small V.C. or North Vietnamese Unit, we would lay a field of fire into them until the three other platoons closed in on each side.

The worst experience I ever had in my life happened a couple of months before the overrun of An Loc and my R&R as they called it. We were in a new area that we hadn't been before and some new enemy troop movement had been seen in that area. We hit a big open area with a rice field in the middle and the rest was swampy with tall grass. As usual, we went right down the middle of it like we had good sense; 1st and 2nd platoon went around the tree line on the left of us and the 4th platoon in the tree line on the right of us. The Sgt. Major was trying to tell me something on the radio and there was a lot of interference and I couldn't understand him. I dropped my cigar that I always chewed on in the rice paddy and bent over to pick it up when I heard the mortar thump and an incoming round! About that same time a little Marine knocked me down and the explosion came and landed right on top of me. The breath was knocked out of me and I was sputtering water from the rice paddy and blood was streaming down my forehead and face. I thought to myself, I guess this is what it is like to get killed in combat. But as I was getting my breath back and feeling better, I threw the Marine off my back and saw that the explosion had killed him instantly. We didn't have time to think about him too much since it looked like half the enemy army was charging into the rice fields to do us in, we had our hands full. We were enraged and quite a battle ensued as the other three platoons engaged also. We drove back quite a large North Vietnamese regular battalion, I don't remember the North Vietnamese body count, but I do remember that we lost six of our South Vietnamese soldiers and the Marine who was on top of me.

I was very upset over the loss of one of my young men that I, A Lifer, was to to help keep from harm. He was only 19 and since that time I have completely blocked his name. All I can remember is the young black man from Chicago, that called me "Old Sarge, " I have questioned the Lord many times as to why he spared me and not this young black marine. Evidently God had other things planned for me. One day I will remember his name and if not I know I will see him in Heaven

It's my belief, that on that day at the Vietnam wall, as my dad rubbed the letters of that soldier, my dad's memory came back to him. If not, then my Dad and that young Marine are sharing war stories today! Thanks Dad and to the young Marine! Today... Take some time and thank a veteran!

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Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Obama, Romney, Jesus and you!

By Steve | Published Wednesday, November 7, 2012

After watching all my Facebook friends moan, groan and gloat over the elections I can say I almost unfriended and unfamilied some of them. I came across this well thought out and written Facebook status from a friend of mine that really resonated in me. So I asked Luke if I could post this here. So I can now say that Luke Dooley (you can follow and give him a shout out or follow him @yeloodekul ) is my first guest blogger! I hope it's as meaningful to you as it was for me. 

 One of my favorite passages of scripture is Daniel 2. I took a Daniel commentary class in college and fell in love with the book. Essentially King Nebuchadnezzar has dream that disturbs him and he commands his astrologers and wise men to tell him the dream and interpret it. They are unable to do so… However, a young foreigner named Daniel was given the dream and the answer in a vision.

He goes on to explain to King Neb the following:


31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

The end is the key. A Rock cut out "not by human hands" crushes the statue and becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth. In summary: The different layers of the statue are the various kingdoms of man. The Rock cut out "not by human hands" is a little infant born in a manger, and the mountain that fills the earth is a New Kingdom… one that is unstoppable and rules not by power, but by love. This New Kingdom is to be ushered in by the Bride of Christ.

On this day of turmoil and vitriol after the election, I am so reminded of this passage, and its significance. Friends, God did not choose the nations of man to bring about his Kingdom. He chose the Church [the bride of Christ!]. He did not choose the rulers of the day: not Rome, not Babylon, not Persia, not England, not Israel, not America… he chose the Church.

If you're excited because your guy won and you think his social programs are the solution, shame on you. If you're furious because your guy lost and you think his anti-abortion stance is the solution, shame on you.

If God wanted Government to care for "the least of these", he would have sent His Spirit on Casesar, not Peter and Paul.

What's the point? In short: Do Something. Quit talking. Your rhetoric is not helpful. Your sensationalism does not bring about the New Kingdom. Your bitter jabs are not Christlike. If Paul showed up and hung out in this community for a few weeks and then left us with a letter to help us move forward, it would make Galatians and Corinthians seem mild. Ask yourself some simple questions: "Am I being helpful." "Am I being Christlike". "Am I living proof, or just typing rhetoric?"

If you're angry about people who are "depending on others to bail them out", do something about it. My suggestion: go volunteer at a brand new organization in Cincinnati called CityLink a center that is seeking to help move the working poor away from poverty and towards family self sufficiency. Go here: http://citylinkcenter.org/

If you're frustrated by the lack of "family values", go find a single mom with multiple children. Build a relationship with the family. Mentor the children. Especially if you are a man and she has a boy. Your influence will change his life... he'll be exponentially more likely to grow up and start a values based family.

If you're waiting on the government to provide social services to the poor in your community, stop waiting and put your time, money, and energy where your keyboard is. My suggestion: Go volunteer at Reach Out Lakota… a great organization that provides; food, clothing, and essentials to families who cannot provide such things for themselves. The Holiday season is upon us, this is ROL's biggest season of need. Go here: http://reachoutlakota.org/

If you have a righteous anger burning in you about 1,000 + abortions happening per day in the USA, stop posting crazy fetus pictures and calling people baby killers. My Suggestions: Find or start a ministry that is passionate about helping young pregnant women make good choices. Adopt a child… IF ABORTION STOPPED TODAY, WHO WOULD CARE FOR THOSE 1,000+ CHILDREN? Financially support a ministry like the Zoe Adoption Foundation which seeks to make adoptions affordable and less complicated for families who are seeking to bring an unwanted child into their home. Go Here: http://thezoefoundation.com/

If you're a pastor or church leader, and you keep posting proof texts and witty proverbs about unity, stop it… it sounds canned and insincere. Invite the black pastor from across town to preach at your church. Start a ministry that transports poor, dirty, racially different kids in from the trailer park that is a few minutes from your church.

There was a stone carved not by human hands. His name is Jesus. If you claim to follow Him, challenge yourself and those around you to rise above the political fray. Imagine the difference you can make the next four years if you stop waiting for other's to "do their job" and start fulfilling the two great commandments that Jesus simplifies for us in Matthew 22: "Love God, Love Others".

To quote so many of you today: Get to work.

(I'm Luke Dooley, and I approve this message. Mostly because I need to absorb and put into action every single word in my own life.)

P.S. Thanks to Curtis Woody Adkins for getting me excited about the book of Daniel so many years ago at Warner Royal.

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Two A Days 4 The Holidays!

By Steve | Published Wednesday, October 31, 2012

In case you have not noticed, IT"S THE MOST WONDEFUL TIME OF THE YEAR! I'm not sure what I like so much about it, maybe it's the crisp air, falling leaves, colors of trees ( I only dreamed about in kindergarten in El Paso Texas), football, crisp air, apples, apple cider, fire pits, Halloween night seeing friends and neighbors, fall festivals, pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes, carving jack-o-lanterns with my family, corn stalks, corn mazes, hay rides, the smell of fall, scented candles, waking up on Thanksgiving day, pilgrims, roasting marshmallows and Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, or just that... "God is in it all!"


However, if you read into that previous paragraph, there are a lot of calories in that description. There is conflicting research as to what the average amount of weight gain is from Halloween to New years but it averages out to about 7 - 10 pounds. So with a little inspiration from Mean Dean Peters a good friend of mine, who has lost A TON of weight and is doing two weeks of two-a-days.  I'm starting my own version of two-a-days tomorrow, but mine will last until the end of the year. I'm not in this to compete with Dean or one up him, I'm using his two-a-days as inspiration! How am I doing it:

As of tomorrow (when I start) there will be 62 days till the end of the year and most people gain 10 lbs between now and the end of the year. How am I going to keep that off? Simply by working out twice-a-day. Here is what I figured out for myself. On average I burn about 325 calories at the gym every morning, I'm going to double my daily calories burned from now until the end of the year. So daily it will be my goal to burn 650 calories. Nothing complex about that!

What's that? You don't even workout once a day? Well it's time to start!


If you want to find out how I'm doing... Check back here often, check my Facebook or follow me on Twitter @youthguru.

I would also love for you to join me! Who needs to wait for a New Year, let's start tomorrow morning! Who's in... If you are, check in often and let me know how it's going, tell me your progress and tell me what you are doing to exercise each day!  LET'S DO THIS!


PS: If you want a great little app that tracks your weight, caloric intake and calories burned, check out the LoseIt app, it has helped me lose 35 pounds.





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Conflicted between Obama and Romney!

By Steve

This past Sunday I was blessed to sit and listen to a sermon by a youth pastor friend of mine that got to preach in BIG church. His topic was on conflict and at one point he put up the picture to the right. I created the one that is there, not sure of the writing is correct but you get my gist. He went on to talk about what he called the, "Butch Principal" which is basically two people coming together that have a conflict. They simply move the conflict aside. Then come together with things you have in common, like Christ for example, you also own part of the conflict and start to discuss it, but you must move the conflict off to the side first.

As you "own" and "discuss" it you must be:

Open to correction (Proverbs 12:1)
Control Your emotions (Proverbs12:16, Proverbs 15:18)
Willing to listen, because you don;t have all the answers and some of your facts mat be out of whack!

You don't want to own it... Well think about this. You were once in conflict with God... AND HE OWNED IT!  Philippians 2.

As we move closer to the election may we as believers begin to be open to correction, control your emotions and be willing to listen. I'd also encourage you to realize that all 15 people running for office are loved by God and we should be praying for them. May I also remind you that neither the president or Congress has the power to ultimately change this country. I believe that God gave that mandate to the church! So... let's quit bickering, set the conflicts aside and get busy!

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Quit going to your kids lunch!

By Steve | Published Monday, October 22, 2012


I came across this article on the one of the forums that I’m a part of on Facebook and thought it would be a lead in to what I’m about to say.



After reading the article I sense that the Buchanan’s have some serious issues with pastors or youth pastors in general being on campus. They say that, “Allowing the minister to attend lunches with the students when no other person not affiliated with the schools are able to do so represents an endorsement of religious beliefs, according to the lawsuit.”  I speak for myself here but I kind of agree with them. If in fact that no other community leaders are allowed to be there is just plain wrong. After 25 years of student ministry I can honestly say that at times my intentions were not only to meet with my students but to hopefully meet their friends also, which in turn I would hope would break down some walls and allow my students to invite their friends to our youth ministry. Do I think this is all youth pastor's attention... NO! But, right or wrong.. that was “my intention”.

I might also say that we as youth pastors need to take a different approach to this. Here is what I propose:

#1 Take on the attitude of a servant, humble yourself and ask if the principal will allow you to take them to lunch or coffee. In my last position I took the principal out to lunch and she said to me, “In the 25 years I have been a principal no youth pastor has ever asked me to lunch!:” That was the start of a great relationship because she did not think I had an agenda. Honestly... I didn't! While at this meeting explain that you serve students also and want to be a resource for him/her. At this point you have several options:

- Volunteer to coach a sport of you have experience in that area.
- Volunteer to cut out paper planes or whatever needs to be done.
- Volunteer to help out at after prom or football games. (For years now we have    worked the allnighters at after prom.

#2 Volunteer to help out with PTSO. They are always looking for volunteers, and you get to minister to adults not just students at all kind’s of events.

#3 Start a teen center! I know this is a radical idea, but because we built a teen center we have set ourselves up to serve our community and the teens that live in it. This center also affords us to go to school assemblies to promote the center, to back to school night to talk to parents. It has even allowed us to work with the administration and teachers and allow us to take the community service program off their plates. We have taken well over 1000 students in community service projects in our community for their benefit. You can check out the center at: EDGE

These are just a few ideas that go beyond the one sided, “Hey can I have lunch with my kids dilemma!”

Now... Let me hear your thoughts and ideas you have used!

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Bullying Is Real?

By Steve | Published Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Today is National Bully Prevention Day and in honor of that I’d thought I’d share a story from one of the programs I participate in.

Several weeks ago I was one of the speakers at a program called ID Project. It is a program that was presented at a local junior high by ChangePoint. ChangePoint creates learning experiences to create environments where students discover themselves, their peers and empathy at a deeper level. These discoveries unlock innate compassion for others creating a radical positive change in the social climate of a school.

During this program we have a time at the very end called, “Open Mic,” this is where we allow students to take a few moments to go and apologize to someone else in the room they may have wronged. This is a tough thing to do for an ordinary adult, even tougher for an 8th grader sitting in a room of 150 other 8th grade boys!

After a LONG pause the time began and a boy stood up next to me and told me whom he needed to apologize to. So we walked across the room and he began to say, John Smith (names have been changed) I just want to apologize for ______________, I won’t do it again. Would you accept my apology? Then John has the right to say yes or no.

This went on several more minutes before we began to see a pattern, a pattern of people apologizing to John Smith! After the 5th boy stood up and wanted to apologize, (Mind you John is in tears and the boys that are apologizing are tearing up!) Pete stopped and said, “Who else in this room needs to apologize to John? Because... this is not fair to him! If you need to apologize please come over here and stand.” After that statement over 20 boys stood up and headed Pete’s direction. I looked at Pete, he looked at me in disbelief! In my head I’m thinking, this is unbelievable... this kid is a ticking time bomb about to go off! I just want to lay into all of these boy’s... LET’S GO! But then I remembered what we keep telling kids during this time... “HURT PEOPLE... HURT PEOPLE!” and I wondered what had happened in these boys lives to make them do this? Pete had each of these boy’s apologize to John, one by one. Then as if on cue, after the 15th or 16th boy finished, 20 more boys stood up and walked and stood next to Pete. I was not sure what was happening! But, surely they did not need to apologize also? As these new boys took the mic, they each simply said, “John, I want to apologize. Apologize for not being there for you, not sticking up for you and being clueless as to what was happening to you! It will never happen again! Would you accept my apology?”

We were blown away... as time wound down on this portion of the program we gave them a 15 minute break and we chatted with some of the teachers in the room, they had no idea this was happening. As a matter of fact we found out at our closing evaluation that John’s youth pastor was one of the leaders that day, he had no idea either. The next day when we did the girls program John’s mom was one of the small group leaders. After she had finished the day we explained to her what had happened the day before with John, she was shocked and in tears.

Many of you may have the feeling that teens and kids just need to toughen up, be stronger, quit whining, honestly I don’t disagree with some of those statements. But the real truth is, bullying is real... kids face it every day, many times it goes untold to anyone in authority for fear of payback. You see unlike us, that used party lines to talk to friends this is a highly connected generation of teens. They have to deal with social media and texting the bullying continues when they reach, what is supposed to be the safe haven of their homes!

If you really believe that something needs to change and if you want to do more than where orange, repost this on Facebook, then call or text someone that you have been mean or rude to, even if it was years ago. Even if it was the smallest, most insignificant thing. Call or text that person, right now, and apologize.

Now for the shameless plug... If you want to take it a step further, tell your administrators, counselors, principals and congressman about ChangePoint. We would love to come to the schools in your area. We have some compelling evidence as well as stories of major shifts in students' perspectives after participating in this program from a study done in a local school district.

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I don't talk badly about your vices... errr devices!

By Steve | Published Thursday, September 20, 2012


Over the last few years I have had several discussions about PC v. Apple products so I thought I would just lay out my thoughts on the subject. To be honest these discussions usually end up as arguments since most pc people want to put down Apple products for various reasons, price, speed, can't program with them etc... So here is my two cents and an explanation as to why my brother says I'm an Apple nerd! 

PC Laptops:  I don't hate PC products, if that is what you prefer then go for it. Personally I don't like it when I have to work on my kids PC's. They bog down, they get blue screens, they do weird stuff. When this happens it's usually an all day affair of doing google searches as to why this PC is doing what it is doing and how to fix it, I don't have time to do that. When I'm working on my kids PC's the do not feel intuitive anymore, I know that is my problem! When I first got my macbook there was a learning curve until someone said to me, "When you get stuck on how to do something on a Mac just ask yourself, "If I had designed this macbook/OS how would I handle this problem?" Nine times out of ten I usually figure it out myself. I know some of you might say, "Well PC's do that also!", I just don't see it that way? Granted I'm not a techno geek so I have no need to do any programing, most programmers prefer PC's, but macs are adequate for what I need them for.  Maybe I've become blinded by the light!

Smart Phones:  I had owned Palm products for 15 years and the Palm stuff worked out fine until they started making shoddy products. It REALLY went downhill when HP bought them out. I went through countless years of having my Handspring Palm Pilot in one hand and a cell phone in the other. I was ecstatic when Palm merged the two devices and I had my first smart phone the Palm 700! I was completely content with this device and then Apple came out with this device called an ipod! It could hold 1000's of songs and once again I had two devices. Yet within several years Apple released the iphone and I was hooked and I have never been disappointed with any of their phones as I now have an iphone s. It's not that droids or Samsung Galaxy are bad, as a matter of fact I can't speak intelligently about them as I have never used them. I actually find the Galaxy somewhat intriguing... But it is not enough to pull me away from my iphone that, "HAS AN APP FOR THAT!" I use it as a GPS, to track my workouts, to lose 35lbs, check weather, update facebook and twitter, check for lower prices and other things. I'm sure your device does this also... but I like the intuitiveness of my iphone.

Price: I balked for a long time on the price of a macbook... but the mac I'm using to type this on is 6 years old and is still going strong, no need to replace just yet. I probably would have gone through 2 or 3 pc's by now. It has not slowed down either, so there is no need for a PC pitstop.

Service: I've never had trouble with Apple Genius's, yes they are Genius's! As a matter of fact sometimes they are generous even when your warranty has expired! I can go into my local Apple store and have my computer looked at by a Genius, I can make that reservation with my iphone by the way, yet if I want my kids pc laptops fixed I have to call the company. I then have to explain to them what is wrong, have them try to fix it over the phone and then inevitably send it back to them to fix. So I'm usually out of a computer for several weeks. Whereas at an Apple store I'm only out for a few days MAX!

Tablets: I own an original iPad and it is still going strong, whereas my 13 year old has a Nook color that is a year old. We have already had to have it replaced once and this weekend it started acting up again. Is my iPad superior? I'm not sure about that... But if Apple comes out with a smaller version around Christmas for the same price as a NOOK... I may be tempted to buy it from him. Why... because it is just more intuitive and dependable.

Bottom line... OK! I'm an apple geek, we all have our vices. As I was thinking through this post I realized that it's not just me... we have 12 Apple products in our family. WE ARE ALL GEEKS. Now... just leave my Apple vices alone and go back to your blue screen of death... Whoops that slipped!




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Easton Bats are Poorly Engineered.

By Steve | Published Thursday, September 6, 2012


If you own an Easton x1 bat then sell that thing! My son a, 16 year old baseball player, has broken two of them this season. The picture at the right is a picture of the latest one he broke! In my opinion, this is just poor engineering on Easton's part. It's not the only one that I've seen break, my younger son's team broke two of them this year.

 The company was great on the first broken bat because they sent him a new bat, but I still had to pay postage to the tune of $25! 

 The second time, last month, I called and said I did not want this bat again. I was informed that I could return the broken bat and choose a cheaper bat (all aluminum) but that I would not be given the difference, which was about $200. I'm currently waiting for customer service to contact me back. Below is the email I sent to customer service, I'll keep you updated as to what they say.

Easton Sports 
7855 Haskell Ave.
Suite 103
Van Nuys, CA. 91406

Reference # 606188077
To whom it may concern,

I would appreciate if someone in the management area of customer service at Easton bats would call me as soon as your receive this bat. I find if troubling that my only options are to replace this bat (this is our second one that broke, I don’t want another one), or choose a lesser one piece aluminum bat. We have chosen the cheaper aluminum one but the agent I spoke with said that we would not receive any money back as compensation for taking a cheaper bat! I paid 399.99 dollars for the original bat and I have chosen a bat that is $100 cheaper (I hope you have that in your records!) Not to mention that it has cost me over $50 in shipping fees to send these bats back. The least you could do is give me a $100 credit from Easton so that we can purchase another product from you. A badly engineered bat should not cost money out of my pocket! 

Bottom Line... Don't buy a two piece composite bat until the improve the technology.

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Only The Strong Survive: Lift To Live Longer

By Steve | Published Monday, May 14, 2012

Great article by Nick Bromberg over at the ThePostGame.com. Looks like I'll be putting that website in my Flipboard!  I think I'll also be purchasing the book by Lou Schuler. Let me know what you think about the article!

"I used to be able to do that when I was your age."
It's a phrase you've undoubtedly heard countless times. Heck, many of you have probably uttered a similar line more times than you'd like to admit.
The aging process can be a hard thing to accept. Our bodies make it easier to store fat as we start to lose muscle. Aches and pains that didn't exist 10 years ago occur on a frequent basis.
But it doesn't have to be that way. We're all going to go down someday, but why go down without a fight? With the right training approach, your athletic prime could be in front of you, rather than a speck in the rear-view mirror.
"We've seen research on every age group, from children to men and women in their 90s, and it's clear that you can get stronger at any age," says Lou Schuler, co-author of the new book The New Rules of Lifting for Life.
"That's pretty well-established. What's less well known is that strength is directly correlated to longevity. It almost doesn't matter what type of strength is being measured -- abs, thighs, grip. The strongest people live the longest. So no matter what age you are, being even a little stronger is always better.
"The great thing about strength training is that it addresses most of the major problems that sneak up on us as we get older. The average man or woman will lose about 1 percent of their muscle mass per year, starting in middle age. With muscle goes a lot of stuff we rarely think about -- the thickness and strength of our tendons and ligaments, the size of our bones, the number of muscle fibers and nerves we can call on when we need them."
But don't blindly dash off to the gym just yet in your newfound quest to be the oldest living person. You have to train intelligently; focusing on stability and mobility in the areas you need it most, and total body strength. Strength that comes from lifting relatively heavy weights -- that means you, ladies -- and for the guys, total-body workouts that don't involve 15 different sets of arm exercises.
"Middle-aged and older women think their bones will shatter if they pick up a weight that's heavier than their purse. There's nothing stranger than seeing a woman do a bench press or bent-over row with a dumbbell that's smaller than her forearm," Schuler says.
"Then you have the guy with a 40-inch waist who comes into the gym and spends the first half-hour working on his arms. Those are the only exercises he can do with weights that seem manly enough for him. First of all, what a total freaking waste of time. Here's a guy with a body that, more than anything, needs exercise. It needs to move. And what's he doing? He's sitting on a bench, trying to move nothing but his elbow joints."
We need that stability most in our midsections -- namely our abdominals and lower back -- which are abused daily when we sit in our cars, at our desks, and in front of the television. We need the mobility in areas like our hips and shoulders, which also suffer greatly during our prolonged periods of sitting down. And what's the best antidote for sitting down? Standing up -- and Schuler's co-author Alwyn Cosgrove incorporates that premise frequently.
"Sitting for hours at a time is probably the most dangerous thing we do on a daily basis," Schuler says. "But when people go to the gym, young or old, what do they do? They sit. They sit on recumbent bikes, they sit down to do cable rows and lat pulldowns, they sit on benches to do shoulder presses. In between sets, they sit some more.
"In Alwyn's workouts, you don't sit. If you're going to do a lat pulldown, you're either kneeling or standing. Same with a cable row. It's a great exercise when you stand up to do it. You have to brace the muscles in your core to maintain your balance and posture. Not only does that make it tougher, it keeps you on your feet."
And it may make you the last one standing.

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What to Eat?

By Steve | Published Saturday, April 28, 2012




As of this morning I now weigh 193 pounds, that is a loss of 34 lbs.. I have had my follow up physical and my cholesterol has plummeted but not yet out of the danger zone so I have reluctantly started tricor. My hope is to continue to eat right and exercise to get it down even lower.
As of late I have found people saying, "You look great!" followed with, "How are you doing it?
Well, here is the answer! For the last three years I have hit the gym above on a consistent basis but I was just maintaining weight. I really did not start seeing results until my lifestyle change (read not a diet) in January of this year (see previous post).  That change can be summed up as follows: "You can't lose weight without exercise. But I've got a philosophy about exercise. I don't think you should punish your body for something your mouth did. Drag your lips around the block once or twice." Gwen Owen
I can some up my diet in two words, "NOTHING WHITE!" White foods should be avoided completely under the premise that most of these foods contain simple carbohydrates, which increase insulin production and trigger cravings for more carbohydrates. Foods to steer clear of on this diet include white rice, white flour, sugar, and potatoes, salt and milk, although some versions of the diet do allow for the inclusion of skim milk.
Anything made from white flour must also be strictly eliminated such as bread, cakes, pastries, pasta and noodles. Some proponents of the diet also advise dieters to avoid fruit juice and artificial sweeteners because these foods can cause sugar cravings. My inventory of food over the last few months using my trusty Lose It App looks like the following:
Proteins: Raw Almonds, Raw Walnuts, Beans (black and pinto), eggs,
Veggies: (all veggies) I prefer: avocado, broccoli,  carrots, celery, lot's of salads, spaghetti squash instead or spaghetti pasta, 
Snacks: Kettle Chips: Almond Butter Crunchy and peanut butter, Clif Bars (all kinds), Plain Greek yogurt (you can add herbs for a dip and fruit for a dessert), honey if I need sweetener, dark chocolate (70% cocoa, but only occasionally), powercrunch protein bars (you want to look for bars that have more protein than carbs), whey protein shakes. 
Fruit: (basically any kind of fruit) Oranges, bananas, cherries, variety of melons 
Complex Carbohydrates: oat bread, whole wheat NOT enriched (about to switch to Ezekiel bread), Bare Naked Vanilla Almond Crunch Cereal, steel cut oatmeal,
Drinks: Almond Breeze Milk (Vanilla Flavor unsweetened), I try to limit soda but have diet when I do, I drink mostly water and use true lemon and lime (I don't like plain water) or Crystal light flavor packets. I have read that using artificial sweeteners can cause you to crave sweets, but just read in Men's magazine that the research for that is bad research and I seem to have done ok with it.
I also use olive oil instead of butters. I try to stay to the outside edges of your supermarket and the health food section and you should be fine! Eating out? I try to stay away from the white stuff, bread sugars etc... If it’s a burger joint I eat it without the bun.

I also take a day off a week and splurge a little, and occasionally have a beer, LITE that is!

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Do Something!

By Steve | Published Friday, April 27, 2012


My dad (The Sarge) had a famous quote that my brother's and I still use often, "WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO... DO SOMETHING!" 

On January 1, 2011 I weighed in at 227 and I knew it was time to do SOMETHING about it. So... for the last year my friend Todd Porter and I have been hitting the gym on a religious basis. We make sure that we give each a hard time when we don’t get to the gym, whether we have an excuse or not. I would also be remiss not to mention my older brother who is an inspiration to me; he went through a journey several years ago and is in great shape. He daily goes to Crossfit in Bowie MD.  In that time I was thinking, this is great for me, I feel good. Yet I was bummed that I was not losing the weight.

You see the garbage I was filling my body was far outweighing, literally, what I was putting out. Finally in January of this year I finally went to my yearly physical that took me three years to schedule, but with a little push from my wife I went. Well needless to say that was the kick in the pants I needed! After talking to that doc my LDL Cholesterol was 453... yes you read that right, I also had some issues with fat around my liver and blood pressure was a little high. You see my father and grandfather died from heart disease, so it was time for a life change, NOT A DIET! The doctor wanted to put me on cholesterol medication right away but I convinced him to allow me to change my eating habits, take natural supplements for cholesterol (more on that in a later post) and intensify my exercise regime, he agreed and I will go back to see him on April 15th, I will keep you posted

So… the picture... I can't remember the last time I weighed below 200. It has not been easy, the first few weeks the weight just fell off and then the last four to six weeks it has come off about a pound to two pound per week. 

Many people have asked how did you do that? Basically, I took the doctors advice and cut out anything white, like processed sugars and bad carbohydrates. I have a weekly weight lifting schedule and do some sort of cardio for 30 minutes every day, except for Sunday when I rest. I also track all my calories in an app called Lose It. It has not been an easy task, but it has built character and discipline in me.

Please know... I don't write this or show the picture to brag, I have a long way to go. What I do want to do is encourage you. As Sarge would say... DO SOMETHING!

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